Automatic operating mechanism for railway gates



AUTOMATIC OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY GATES Filed Feb. 1i, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 chrome Feb. 24. l 925.

V. D. PORTER AUTOMATIC OEERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY GATES 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Feb 11 1924 .liET

'woenra 1 M3 P022752 R rms 500 \iclc Patented Feb. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES PArsr tries.

VIRG-IL D. PORTER, F BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR 01E ONE-HALF '10 WILLIS A. MASSEY AND ORLAND F. PARKS, BOTH OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

AUTOMATIC OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY GATES.

Application filed February 11, 1924. Serial No. 691,951.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VIRGIL D. PORTER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have in- Vented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Operating Mechanism for Railway Gates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an automatic operating mechanism for opening and closing railway crossing gates.

My invention belongs to that class of operating mechanisms in which the train as it approaches and as it departs from the crossing will by mechanical or electrical appliances directly or indirectly cause the automatic closing of the crossing gates ahead of the train and their opening after the train has passed the crossing.

Heretofore, in such appliances, it has been the general practice to utilize train trip mechanism either to actuate the gates mechanically to open or close them, or to energize an electric motor drive which would positively open or close the gates. Obviously such appliances, being entirely automatic in their action, are subject to certain inherent objections such as that, being positively driven, they may in closing strike a vehicle or they may trap the vehicle between the gates on the tracks and under these conditions either the vehicle is damaged or destroyed or the gate mechanism must be broken to allow its escape. Moreover, these mechanisms are further subject to the objection that they are expensive, require attention and are thus inipractical for use except where they can be kept under constant observation.

The purpose of my invention is to devise a gate controlling mechanism which may be mechanically or electrically operated under control of the train and which is distinguished from electrically or mechanically driven gates by the manner in which the gate is caused to open or close, this being a motion always free and responsive only to gravity, and is preferably accomplished by a very slight shifting of the gate axis. Obviously this arrangement relieves the operating mechanism of any positive connection to the gate to operate it, and of any appreciable load or duty asthe. shifting of the gates axis or pivot offers so little resistance that it is possible to mechanically operate it by a positive drive from a rapidly moving train without probable destruction of the operating mechanism.

The advantages of my invention and its preferred methods of operation will be more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which 1 Fig. 1 is a plan view of a. track equipped with a mechanical drive for shifting the lower pintle bearing of the gate.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 an enlarged plan view of a gate showing its stops and the bearing for the lower pintle in position to cause the gate to close. 7

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a double crossing gate electrically controlled.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end elevation of a gate shown in closing position.

Fig. 6 is detail 'plan view of the guide bracket for the movable pintle bearing.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of th pintle and its bearing and guide.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

According to the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 I show a railway track comprising rails 1, cross ties 2, and dotted lines 3 indicating a roadway crossing the track. The gate mechanism shown is of the simplest possible type comprising a single horizontally swinging gate 4 on each side of the crossing, but obviously the type of gate may be varied at will. Adjacent to the railway on opposite sides of the 'road'I place two upright posts 5 and I attach to the top of these posts a metal strap or bracket 6 which overhangs and has an opening to receive the top pintle 7 of its respective gate 4. Near the bottom of each post I attach a bracket 8 having therein a diagonal slot 9. A transversely disposed operating bar 10 for each gate has at its outer end a hole 11 in which is received the lower pintle 12 of the gate, which projects below the bar and carries a roller 12 which works in and is guided by the slot 9. Each bar 10 at its inner end is received in guides 13 suitably attached to'the cross ties and has an upturned pin 14 which is engaged in an angled slot 15 of its respective throw plate 16 which is connected to or rigidwith .an operating rod or shaft 17 that extends cenother end with a straight rack having downturned teeth. The racks 19 and 20 are respectively engaged by gears 21 and 22. the former being abovethe rack 19 and the latter below the rack- 20. Each of the gears is fast on a rocker shaft 23 having upturned end fingers or arms 24 which are adapted to be engaged by any suitable element onan approaching train and rocked to shift the shaft longitudinally of the track. The rocker shafts 28 are 'journaled in suitable bearings25 clipped to the rails or otherwise secured to the track. Tl'ie'shaft is provided with a throw plate 16 for each gate operating bar 10 and the slotsl5 are reversely arranged in these plates so as to cause both gates to open or close in unison according to the direction of movement of the bar imparted thereto by the train trip which is typically illustrated at 26 in FigLQ. Each gate is also provided with brackets 2'? having stop arms on each side of the gate so as to limit its inward andoutward play; The bars 10' will stand either in their extreme inner o'r extreineouter positions,it not being possible for them to be'left in an intermediate position and when in either extreme position the'lower pintle of the gate is shifted out of vertical alignment with the upper pivot so as to unbalance the gate and cause itby' gravity to open or 'cl'o'se according to the direction in which the gate is unbalanced, (see Fig; 5).' It will be observed, however, that'it ismerely the pintle of the gate which is displaced by the operating mechanism; the" gate itself being at all times free to swing and thus as it moves to close it will more gently and slowly and without possible injury or damage to any passing animal or'vehi-c'le', and moreover should the gates by any. chance enclose between them a vehicle, obviously they can be opened with entire freedom so that the-vehicle can'pass on out of-the tr'aclr. Further, being light and free of any'rigidoperating mechanism, the gates canbe'opened outwardly fromthe track by driving into them and which" would open them without injury to an automobile or vehicle; The shaft 17 and the throw plates 16 are made very light so that the inertia will be negligible-and if desired tifriction bearings, 18 may be used for the sh-a ftt The wedgi'ng' action ofthe throw plate-slots on the operating: bars 10 presents negligible' resistan'ce to the free longitudinal .move menflof ,-the bar as-the throw plates havep 1y ovdntydu'e t'o thefaet' that they shift only the lower gate axis While the weight of the gate is supported overhead by the bracket 6 preferably by the use of an antifriction bearing 39. M invention contemplates that the thrust 0 the gate on the lower pintle 12 shall be taken by the roller 12 1 In operation, an approaching train moving to the right,-Fig. 2, will by means of its trip 26 throw the arms 24 of the near rocker shaft 23 clockwise anddraw the operating shaft 17 to the left. This moves the two throw plates to the left and shifts their slots so as to forcethe bars 10 outwardly, thus throwing th bottom pintles of the gate outwardly and unbalancing the gates to causethem to swing closed At the same time the arms 24 o11the far rocker shaft 23 will be swung counter-cloclnviseand when the trip actuatesthem they are drawn clockwise by the train and the shaft 17 isthrown to the right, causing the gate pintles to be d'rai'vn inwardly and the gates unbalanced to swing open. The same action occurs when the train approaches in-the opposite direction; i i

In Fig; 41: I show a gate mechanism adapted for electrical operation. Here the track rails throughout the desired zone oneach side of the crossing are insulated and connected by an electrical circuit 528 to "a source of electrical energy such asa battery 29 and included in the circuit 28 is a solenoid or electricmaguet 30 for each gateythe core or amiature 31 of whichso'lenoid is connected by a lever 32 to a 'bar 33 corresponding to the bar 10 and serving to guide the lower gate pintle 12 in the diagonal slot 9 "of the bottom bracket 8 corresponding to 8; The lever is pivoted to the bracket 8*. A coil connected toa suitable anchor and to said lever tends normally to shift the bar 3-3 inwardly so as to unbalance the gate to cause it to swing open; In this arrangement I have shown a pair of gates 35011 oneside of the track. This arrangement being more suitable forwidecrossings: It may be desirable to put a positive stopfifiin the center of the roadway which will stop the cl be ing movement of the gates and prevent them being opened inwardly to give access to the track, but these stops obviously do notinterfere with the opening outwardly of the gates fronrthe track,

V It'will be understood that both the machanion and electrical appliances described for the unb'a l'ancing of the gates are capable of wide variation without departure from the essential spirit of my ii'ivention; The operation of the electrical appliancesis identical with that of the mechanical appliances; As soon as a train'passes onto the insulated track section and so long as it remain'sthereon the magnets are energized and the gates unbalanced to close. The moment the in spring 34,

sulated track is clear of the train, the circuit to the magnets is broken and the springs shift the pintles 12 to unbalance the gates so that they will swing open and remain in this position until another train passes onto the insulated track section. The source of electrical energy is typically indicated as a battery but it may be a generator on the railroad train itself or a battery carried by the train or it may be connected up with any suitable source of electricity, either local or such as may be available along the track for other signal purposes.

If desired a warning lamp 37 may be mounted on the gates and connected by a eir cuit 38 across the magnet circuit so as to be illuminated when and while the magnets are energized.

Though I have described with great particularity the details of the embodiment of the invention herein shown, it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto, as changes in arrangement and substitution of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus: described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway crossing gate mechanism, gates having substantially vertical axes, train controlled mechanism adapted to shift said axes out of vertical position on each side to unbalance the gates, said mechanism comprising an electric track circuit adapted to be closed by an approaching train, a magnet for each gate energized by the closing of said circuit, a shifter bar operable by each magnet and connected to the lower vertical axis of its respective gate, and a bottom bearing plate for each lower gate axis having a diagonal guide slot for each axis, and spring means to reset the shifter bar when the mag net is de-energized, and means to stop the opening and closing movements of the gates,

said gates being at all times free to swing on their respective axes between their respective stop means.

2. In a railway crossing gate mechanism, a support carrying upper and lower bearings for the gate, upper and lower pintles of the gate working in said bearings, means to sup port the weight of the gate from the upper pintle, there being a diagonally arranged slot in the lower bearing to receive the lower pintle, a roller on the lower pintle to take the thrust of the gate, a shifting plate mounted on the lower pintle, and train con trolled mechanism to shift said lower pintle laterally to unbalance the gate, as and for the purposes described. 1

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VIRGIL D. PORTER.

lVitness NoMIn lVELsrI. 

